Holy rolling Thunder

The defensive intensity that OKC can hit is essentially unmatched.

Good morning. Let’s basketball.

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The Threatened Swan; Jan Asselijn; 1650

Do you like watching birds of prey stalk their next meal, and go on for the kill? If so, you’d love watching the Oklahoma City Thunder defense at their peak effectiveness, as they were Thursday night in the hyped rematch with the Cleveland Cavaliers. We need David Attenborough on the call.

OKC is No. 1 in the league in turnover generation; they force turnovers on 18.5% of opponent possessions. Cleveland, meanwhile, has the fourth lowest turnover rate in the league: they are hard to turn over. The Cavs mostly protected the ball in the match-up last week. Cleveland had 21 turnovers, representing nearly 20% of their possessions. OKC only had six turnovers.

The Thunder are vicious, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (one of the vultures) also happens to be perhaps the pre-eminent three-level scorer in the NBA right now. He dropped 40 in 29 minutes on Thursday, shooting 6/7 at the rim, 5/8 in floater range, 5/6 from the midrange and just 1/5 from deep (he’s at 35% from deep on the season). This work is nondiscriminatory; he will put 30+ on bad teams and excellent teams like the Cavaliers all the same. He holds an immense number of moves and his skills and decision-making are very sharp. Honed. He’s a honed weapon.